Mental Breakdown
by Kuro de Band Geek
Summary: Basically my take on how the series SHOULD end, if it has to. PLEASE R&R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1. Thorn's arrival

It was midnight in New Gotham. Along one of the alleys, a woman, about the age of 21, was pacing impatiently. As she paced, she noticed a rather large rat scurrying around. She watched in awe as the rat slowly morphed into a middle aged man. The woman cautiously went up to the man. "Todd Curtis?" she asked.  
  
"Depends," the man replied curtly, "Who's asking?"  
  
"Rose Baker. We spoke earlier." The man smiled.  
  
"Yes," he said, "Ms. Baker-"  
  
"I'd prefer you call me Thorn," she interrupted icily.  
  
"Yes," he repeated, his voice taking on a gruff edge again, "Anyway, I called because I heard about your" he paused, "skills."  
  
"My meta skills?"  
  
"Precisely. Image projection, if I'm not mistaken?" She nodded. "I thought so. Then you won't mind a little demonstration, would you?"  
  
"A demonstration?"  
  
"Show me what you can do. Make me quiver in fear." Thorn nodded, with a sly half-smile playing across her lips. She closed her eyes for a second, concentrating hard, then opened them. Her emerald hued eyes had faded to a silver color.  
  
The experience that played in Todd Curtis's mind was beyond anything he had ever imagined. The sky grew dark. The alley had morphed into a vast open sea, which had already begun to engulf him. Suddenly an overhead force pushed his face into the water and held it there. He could even feel the water pushing against his body. It was too realistic.  
  
All the while, Thorn watched Curtis's expression of horror and fear in amusement. Her smile grew larger, more sinister. When it looked like couldn't take any more, she closed her eyes once again. When she opened them again, her eyes were their normal green. She watched as her victim fell to the ground, gasping for air.  
  
"Had enough, Mr. Curtis?" she asked coldly.  
  
"God!" Curtis sputtered, "What'd you do to me?! You nearly killed me!"  
  
"Not exactly," she replied, "Your mind just took on the impression that you were drowning. While you experienced the sight and feel of it, it never actually affected your systems. Sort of like Virtual Reality. However, if one is under the experience for too long, it could tamper with their nervous system, and could drive them to insanity- or worse."  
  
"Perfect. Now, I want you to do something for me. You're familiar with the trio that call themselves the 'Birds of Prey' am I right?"  
  
"How could I not? They're all over the news," Thorn replied.  
  
"Yes. Anyway, about a year or two ago, a close friend of mine came across their path. He wasn't exactly the crimefighter's pet. He was framed for smuggling illegal imports into New Gotham and selling them to others. Unfortunately, the little brats snuggled up to the cops, mainly that Detective Reese, and he was sentenced to prison across the country, where he died 5 months ago. It was only two weeks ago when they had proven him innocent, but it was too late. It was those brats who sentenced him. Now I want revenge. This is where you come in, Ms. Thorn."  
  
"What do you want me to do?"  
  
"Find them. Haunt them with their greatest fears. I want them to die inside their minds."  
  
"I'll do it," Thorn said. I know just who to start with, she thought as she walked away with a sinister expression. The Thorn is on the prowl! 


	2. Barbara's confession

It was the first day of school once again, as Barbara Gordon wheeled into her classroom with a heavy heart. Since her boyfriend, Wade Brixton, died, she felt so alone, so helpless. She closed her door, then wheeled to her desk, where she sobbed uncontrollably. A knock at her door interrupted her from her thoughts. She took a moment to collect herself, then called her visitor to come in. A young woman walked in. She had shoulder length brown hair, and piercing green eyes, hidden behind thick framed glasses.. She was wearing a tan suit, with a pencil behind her ear, and carrying a notebook. "Excuse me, Mrs. Gordon?" she asked. Barbara flinched. "It's 'Miss'. And you are."  
  
"Rose Baker," the young woman replied with a large, somewhat sinister, smile, "I'm with the New Gotham Gazette. We're doing some interviews with the high school teachers, but we want to ask, er, less than typical questions. We want to give the readers a more. personal view on you."  
  
"Personal?"  
  
"Oh, nothing that bad, we just want to go beyond the same old, same old."  
  
"Well, okay. Shoot."  
  
"What calms you the most?"  
  
"The sights of nature, like. flowers." As Barbara replied, she thought she noticed the reporter's eyes tone down to silver, but the thought was immediately forgotten as her head swirled into a peaceful bliss.  
  
"Now, Miss Gordon, what's your greatest fear?"  
  
"Failure; losing someone I love."  
  
"Have you lost someone already?"  
  
Barbara hesitated, but regained confidence. "Wade Brixton. He was my boyfriend. The only boyfriend that I could ever trust. I confided everything in him."  
  
Just as you are to me. Thorn thought, smiling. "Does anyone else know your secrets?"  
  
"Two girls; Helena Kyle and Dinah Redmond. They're like daughters to me."  
  
"Tell me more about them."  
  
"Helena's out of school. She works at the Dark Horse Bar. Dinah's a senior at this school." Just then, the first bell rang, and the sound of the students shuffling through the hallway could be heard. Thorn looked up at the time and stood up.  
  
"Well, Miss Gordon, we're out of time. Thank you for taking time to talk with me." Her eyes snapped back to green, and Barbara was left feeling confused and dazed. She tossed the feeling aside when the students started walking into her classroom, including Dinah. She saw the woman talking to Barbara, and immediately became suspicious. Before taking her seat at her desk, she went over to her mentor.  
  
"Barbara, who was that woman?" Dinah asked, "She looked kinda creepy."  
  
"I-I don't know," Barbara replied, "Just have a seat." As Dinah walked to her seat, Barbara began the lesson. I don't trust her, she thought, Something's not right about her. 


	3. Dinah's mistake

Finally, the dreaded first day of school was over. Relieved looking students flooded out of their classrooms, grateful to be free at last. Among those was Dinah. She was just on her way to her locker, when she noticed un unfamiliar person struggling with her books.  
  
"Here, let me give you a hand," Dinah offered, balancing the books with her hand.  
  
"Thanks," the girl replied, "I had no idea we needed all this. We had a lot less where I used to go to school." She smiled, but her eyes remained placid and solemn, her voice cool and silky.  
  
"No prob," Dinah answered, "My name's Dinah, by the way. What's yours?  
  
"Rose," the strange girl replied.  
  
"So, you doing anything right now?" Dinah asked, struggling to keep the conversation going.  
  
"I was just going home. Wanna come with me?"  
  
"Sure," Dinah answered, "Just hold on a sec," she added, seeing Barbara wheel out of her classroom. "Hey, Barbara, I'm going over my friend Rose's. Be back later, okay?"  
  
"Yeah, whatever," Barbara replied, sounding tired and far away.  
  
"Hey, are you okay?" Dinah asked, looking concerned, "You've been acting strange all day. You should really go home and lie down."  
  
"Yeah," Barbara repeated, "I need a rest. Have fun Dinah." While the two were talking, Rose had moseyed over to them, in hopes of overhearing something useful.  
  
"You live with Miss Gordon?" she asked, making Dinah jump.  
  
"Yeah. She adopted me just last year."  
  
"Really? She sounds pretty nice."  
  
"She is. She's almost more of a best friend than a mother. We tell each other everything. It's really great."  
  
"I bet. Look, we're here." Dinah was shocked. It seemed like they'd barely taken a step, yet here they were, right in front of Rose's apartment. "C'mon, let's go inside." The apartment wasn't all that big, but it looked like Rose and her family were comfortably suited. The girls walked into a small, barely furnished room, and sat on the bed. Rose pulled out a book titled, DISCOVERING THE REAL YOU: OVER A HUNDRED QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR TRUE PERSONALITY.  
  
"I don't know if you're interested in this kinda stuff, but." Rose said, with a sly grin. Dinah returned the grin. Everyone knew that she couldn't resist any personality quiz.  
  
"Alright, me first," Dinah said eagerly.  
  
"Okay then, what calms you?"  
  
"The beach. I love the beach!"  
  
"What's your greatest fear?"  
  
"Bugs, especially spiders."  
  
"What means the most to you?"  
  
"Barbara and Helena."  
  
"Helena?"  
  
"She's my adopted sister. Barbara took her in too."  
  
"Tell me more about her."  
  
"Helena? Well, she's really tough. Not much can scare her. She's the kind of rebellious type, and as much as she doesn't admit it, she really cares about us, and I think she'd sacrifice her life for us, even."  
  
"You said Barbara adopted both of you. Do you know about your real family?"  
  
"My mother was Carolyn Lance. All I know about her was that she died recently."  
  
"What about Helena?"  
  
"Her mother was Selina Kyle. Her father was Bruce Wayne. Selina was murdered in front of Helena when she was 16. She never knew her father." Rose was satisfied with the information. She blinked, and Dinah looked at her watch.  
  
"Oh my God! 5:00?!" she exclaimed, "I gotta get home. See ya later!"  
  
Yeah, I'll see you, Rose thought, but you won't see me! 


End file.
